Fabulous Fabrics
Interior design may be a mostly visual art,
but designers agree that texture
with its promise of tactile pleasure
is an essential element in every room.
By SALLY FRIEDMAN
Ah touch. It’s a powerful sense, one that even infants experience and respond to. The tactile can change a feeling, establish a mood or alter it. In our homes, its our fabrics that create a veritable feast for the fingertips.
The velvet-covered chair beckons the deep pile chenille makes you want to run your fingers through the sassy, nubby plaid textured cotton on a stuffed armchair invites you to burrow in.
Fabric that cannot be ignored and should not be.
Philadelphia Herb Tapper has been a designer for nearly four decades. And for that long, he has been, in his own words, in love with fabric. Its the focal point of a room, the thing your eye goes to automatically, says Tapper, who works with clients in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida. For me, fabric comes first. It sets the tone, the mood, the look. You feel it before you even realize it. Best of all, maintains Tapper, fabric can make a room playful and interesting without breaking the bank. Case in point: pillows.
Every sofa deserves the punch of pillows, and there is a place for them in almost every style. The right throw pillows in the right fabrics can make you forget that a sofa that may have seen better days, says Tapper.
This designer loves to mix fabrics and with surprising results. He may blend fur with silk but also with something unexpectedly nubby and textured. He may choose an informal fabric in a formal setting just to create interest. And Tapper generally prefers subtle fabrics with pile over leather in living rooms and family rooms. He feels its warmer and more inviting.
This seasons hot fabric: Sensuede
At Calico Corners in Abington, consumers sometimes arrive like lost souls. Selecting fabric can feel overwhelming, concedes sales associate Stephanie Costia who understands that the sheer volume of choices can be bewildering. But Costia also knows how to tame the tiger of choice.
One of the key factors in choosing upholstery fabric for example, is weight. That narrows down the field considerably, said this expert, who also notes that when it comes to upholstery fabric, what you don’t see, the backing can also be as important as what you do see the fabric itself. Any upholstery fabric needs a backing to make sure it doesn’t pucker or bag, which detracts from the look of any furniture piece. Retro looks and very strong colors are in.
When Dottie and Frank Giordano of Moorestown were furnishing their vintage 1901 Georgian colonial, they wanted to keep the living room elegant and formal, but also warm and inviting. Its a delicate balance. They did it successfully through the choice of fabric. We fell in love with the gray and soft apricot floral print of dogwood flowers and branches, said Dottie Giordano, a tireless volunteer and fabled hostess.
that fabric was then reinforced, by pure serendipity, in several paintings the couple discovered in a Philadelphia gallery. It’s coloration was identically to the upholstery fabric and its motif: dogwoods. We just got lucky, said Giordano. I could live with this fabric around us forever.
This Wild Psychedelic Flower print
from J&O Fabrics is back in style
and will look hip anywhere!
The hottest fabric for this new season? Its called sensuede, and its man-made and a trumpet blast, washable with a mile dish detergent. its also pricey at about $114. a yard.
The palette of fall fabrics is full of rich, warm tones, note Costia of Calico Corners. We are seeing a new interest in deep chocolate brown, especially in a weave or in a tone-on-tone look. And there’s more interest in surprising colors like pure, bright pink and lime green as people get bolder with their upholstery color choices.
Flower Power and other retro themes
from the 70s and 80s are popular this year.
At the opposite end of the spectrum is the fabric we can expect to find in the home of todays thirty somethings. There is a huge move to retro looks and ver
y strong colors and themes, said Stan Safady, president of J&O Fabrics in Pennsauken, NJ, one of the largest fabric stores in the region. Younger people seem to love to look back at the 1970s and 1980s, and it shows in the fabrics they are choosing.
Remember those wild geometrics? And flower power? And abstract, almost surreal prints? They are all back. So are the iconic themes like Hawaiian looks and hot colors like pink, yellow and lime sometimes all in one print.
Consumers can even drape themselves or their windows in that familiar smiley face theme. Or go for sailboats on their bedspreads, curtains or pillows. Or opt for pop art.
We have been in business here for 43 years, said Safady, I can not remember a time when fabric was exploding like this. It is like a youth revolution, and while there are plenty of choices like traditional tapestries and jacquards, the fun fabrics are definitely, absolutely on the scene.
Viva la fun!
Sally Friedman, a longtime lifestyle writer, lives in Moorestown, NJ. Her articles have appeared in The Ladies home Journal, Home Magazine and Brides/Your New Home.
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